A method of forming color images by exposing silver halide color photographic materials followed by processing the exposed materials with a color developer containing an aromatic primary amine developing agent is well known.
In color image-forming methods of this type, it is also well known that the developing agent is often oxidized by the oxygen in air and the resulting oxidation product of the developing agent reacts with a color coupler contained in the non-exposed part or partially exposed part of the photographic material to form a dye causing a color fog in the photographic material.
In conventional color photographic materials having two or more emulsion layers, each containing a color coupler with a different color-sensitivity and a different hue, it is also known that the oxidation product of a developing agent as formed by development in one color-sensitive layer will diffuse to other color-sensitive layers and react with the coupler therein to cause color staining (color mixing) in the processed photographic material.
As one means for preventing the unfavorable color fog and color stain, a method of using a hydroquinone compound has been proposed.
For example, there are known the mono-n-alkylhydroquinones described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,360,290, 2,419,613, 2,403,721 and 3,960,570; the mono-branched alkylhydroquinones described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,700,453, JP-A-No. 49-106329, JP-A-No.50-156438 and West German Patent Application (OLS) No. 2,149,789; the dialkyl-substituted hydroquinones described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,728,659, 2,732,300, 3,243,294 and 3,700,453, British Patent No. 752,146, JP-A-No. 50-156438, JP-A-No. 53-9528, JP-A-54-29637 and JP-B-No. 50-21249; and the arylhydroquinones described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,418,613. (The terms "JP-A" and "JP-B" as used herein mean an "unexamined published Japanese patent application" and an "examined Japanese patent publication", respectively.)
These compounds have an effect for preventing color fog and color stain to some degree. However, the effect is small and diinsufficient. Also these compounds form undesirable colored products upon causing the preventative effect.
Under these circumstances, U.S. Pat. No. 4,198,239 has proposed using a hydroquinone derivative, the nucleus of which is substituted by an electron-attractive group such as an acyl group, a nitro group, a cyano group, a formyl group or a halogenated alkyl group. The derivatives demonstrate excellent color stain-preventing activity but have various problems in that these also form a colored product, cause deterioration of the photographic properties of photographic materials during preparation and storage thereof, and fog silver halide emulsions in the photographic materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,198,239 has proposed using a hydroquinone derivative substituted by an aliphatic acylamino group, a ureido group or a urethane group. These derivatives were found to have a high color stain-preventing activity to some degree and which also hardly colored the photographic materials containing them. However, the color stain-preventing activity was still found to be insufficient for practical use, and the derivatives were also inadequate for purposes of storage stability since the derivative formed crystals during preparation of the photographic materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,701,197 has proposed a hydroquinone derivative substituted by a sulfonic acid group-containing alkyl group, aralkyl group or acylamino group. However, derivatives of this type were found to be defective since they diffused to other photographic layers to which the derivative was not added during preparation or storage of photographic materials and not only lowered the color stain-preventing activity and color fog-preventing activity in the layer to which the derivative was added but also changed the photographic properties of the other layers during preparation and storage of the photographic materials.
JP-A-No. 59-202465 discloses sulfonamide group-substituted hydroquinones, but the color stain-preventing activity of these compounds was found to be insufficient.
JP-A-No. 57-22237 proposes electron-attractive group-containing hydroquinones, for example, carbamoyl group-substituted hydroquinones. However, these compounds were found problematic since these were easily oxidized during preparation or storage of photographic materials thereby causing changes in the photographic properties of the materials and a noticeable coloring degree of the oxidized product.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,930,866 and 4,277,558 disclose the method of using hydroquinones.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,558 proposes using a combination of hydroquinone and quinone However, it has been found that when the compounds of the present invention are used under such condition, the color stain-preventing activity thereof is rather lowered
In addition, British Patent Nos. 558,258, 557,750 (which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 2,360,290), 557,802 and 731,301 (which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 2,701,197); U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,336,327, 2,403,721 and 3,582,333; West German Patent Application (OLS) No. 2,505,061 (which corresponds to JP-A-No. 50-110337); and JP-B-No. 56-40816 disclose alkylhydroquinones for use as a color stain-preventing agent.
Also in color diffusion transfer photographic materials, it has been known that the materials often have a so-called "color turbidity" phenomenon, like the common color photographic materials. In order to prevent this phenomenon, the above-mentioned hydroquinones are applied to the color diffusion transfer photographic materials. For example, JP-A-No. 58-21249 discloses hydroquinones for use as a color turbidity preventing agent for diffusion transfer photographic materials.
Research Disclosure, No. 15162 (1973), page 83, JP-A-No. 55-72158 and JP-A-No. 57-24941 (which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 4,366,226) disclose sulfonamidephenols for use as a color turbidity-preventing agent for diffusion transfer photographic materials.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,710,801 and 2,816,028, JP-A-No. 57-17949 and JP-A-No. 61-169844 disclose polymers having a hydroquinone skeleton bonded by a covalent bond, for use as a color stain-preventing agent.
JP-A-No. 59-206833 discloses polymers having a sulfonamidephenol skeleton bonded by a covalent bond, for use as a color stain-preventing agent.
In addition, JP-A-No. 58-156933 discloses that pyrogallol derivatives have a high color fog-preventing activity and JP-A-No. 58-17431 discloses that these derivatives have a latent image-fading preventing activity. However, these derivatives were found not to have satisfactory storage stability.
Accordingly, in the manufacture of color photographic materials, a color stain-preventing agent which efficiently prevents color stain in color photographic materials without lowering the photographic sensitivity thereof, which may be added even to photographic materials where the photographic layer is thinned so as to improve the sharpness, which is not deteriorated with respect to the color stain-preventing activity even after stored for a long period of time, and which has an additional function of contributing to the improvement of the light-fastness of the color images formed by color development, has been desired.